Love is an Ice Bath

Yes, it is in deed. I knew Mr. Darcy truly loved me when he went to Publix on Sunday to buy me a 20 lb. bag of ice so I could take an ice bath. I had just completed a 5 hour long brick that started late and took longer than I had originally anticipated, and he had the girls to himself the entire time. Yet when I asked and he pointed out he'd have to go to Publix and could I watch the girls, he headed out. Later as I was finishing my shower to get the stink, sweat and dirt off before embarking on the ice bath, he even started filling our garden tub with cool water for me. Love is an Ice Bath.

So you may be wondering what on earth did I do that necessitated this ice bath? Merely the longest brick of my life on a rather hot and very humid day. You know it's going to be rough weather wise when at 7:30 am the crickets are already in full chorus and the cool air that was blowing is now hot.

Sunday at 7 am, my training buddy Ryan and I embarked on what was, for both of us, the longest brick we ever have done. A 45 mile bike followed by a 6 mile run. Coach insisted that we bike at no more of an average of 16 mph. We did our best and as Ryan's bike computer wasn't working, I was in charge of sounding the alert when we hit 17 mph. I remember when I first started riding and the idea of 17 mph was a dream. Now, keeping cadence at 80, I'm already going 16.2. So keeping it slower was an exercise in restraint, but we were able to do it. I felt great the entire 45 miles, like my legs were just happy to be cycling along.

I came across a quote the other day "There is a moment where fear and dreams must collide." - Unknown. In a way, that's how I felt at the end of the bike. I had just ridden the farthest I had ever attempted on a bike and now I was going to turn it into a brick by adding a 6 mile run and the temperature was already in the 90's and humid.

After running 1 mile and Ryan's HR being at 90%, the heat being so intense you could feel it radiating up from the ground with every step, our 6 mile run turned more into a walk. We would run at the start of each mile at the first one until Ryan's HR got up to 90% again. (I probably should figure out how to change the settings on my watch like he does, I just have numbers and the inability while running to do the math in my head, we have the same HR monitor afterall.) Then we would walk the rest of the mile until the next one. Then the last 2 miles we just walked since those were supposed to be in zone 1 (and still weren't while we were walking along). At one point we stopped at the CVS to pee and refill our water supply. I think the a/c helped, not to mention the peeing. Of course, I was happy we were peeing because that meant we were at least somewhat hydrated. 6.4 miles later we finished. While we both wish we would have run more, we were both happy to put the mileage in any form into the bank. The moment I stopped walking to mix my recoverite and then attempted to sit on the floor so I could do my back stretches, I knew. I was going to need an ice bath because I was getting stiff muscles.

That was when I asked the question and discovered that Love is an Ice Bath.

This morning I hit the pool for 1800m. Poor Coach was stuck in Texas and didn't get home until super late this morning, so no workouts were posted for the week yet. I didn't want to take an unwarranted rest day, so I made up a swim workout involving a 200 warmup, 4x50 drills (kick, pull, fingertip, butt touch), 2x400 swim. Turns out, it was supposed to be a rest day. Coach says she'll switch it up and I'll have my rest day tomorrow instead. I was tired today, but surprisingly felt pretty good on the swim, so that's inspiring.

In other news, this weekend with the parents was fun. We took the girls to the pool on Saturday and just played around the house. Nothing eventful, but a nice time. The girls had fun with their Nanna and Poppop, and I think wore themselves and their grandparents out!

When Your Subconscious Gives You Perspective...

I figure it's time to sit up and pay attention. Last night I had a really awful dream. I was being held hostage with a group of people in a hotel while on a work trip by a crazy man who wanted to make sure we were "real Americans" by 1) making us take a test and 2) blowing us all up, no matter how well we did on the test. Here I was dressed nicely in a suit, looking rather good, and feeling like all I wanted to do was see my husband and my children again. Somehow at one point in my dream, I escaped to the parking lot where none of the cars would start but I had my cellphone and called Mr. Darcy to tell him that I loved him beyond anything in this world and that I loved our children more than I could express and that everything was going to be OK. I asked him to try to raise our children so that they always knew I loved each of them and would be proud of them, and that if he re-married in a few years after my death I completely understood but to please choose someone who would love our girls like their own, and that I knew that because our girls were so young that they would probably forget me but to try to let them always know how much I loved them, and that my life would have never been as good or as happy as it had been if it weren't for him. I told him that I was sorry we'd been having our issues lately and that what I really needed him to know was that I love him and our life together and I always would. That's when the crazy man caught up to me and forced me back into the building at gunpoint and I got to be the lucky lady to sit on the top of where the bomb was even though I had gotten a 100% on his little history test. Then I woke up.

So I made sure to tell Mr. Darcy how much I loved him. I didn't say anything about the getting re-married thing because well, that would only apply if I were DEAD, which I was most gratefully NOT. I did tell him I was sorry we'd been having issues and that I love him and our life together even if we fight sometimes. I hugged my children when they got up (Ladybug a little after she got up since she was in a bit of a mood and I gave her some space) and told them I love them.

I think that whatever this dream was about, it's about making sure that the people I love know it. I need to let go of whatever ideas I had about how things are supposed to be: time for myself, not having to be in charge of everyone else's life, food and schedules, things not having to fit into perfect little boxes of what I think they should belong in. Just be happy and love the time I have in my life and to make sure the people I love know they are loved.

So that's my plan. I hope to stick to it so that it won't take either a disaster or dreaming about a disaster to make me get back to the plan.

Luckily, I had a 1700 m swim today. The 3 x500s with negative splits for each helped get the jitters from the dream out, and help the mental plan stick. So, be sure to tell the people you love in your life that you love them today.

The Way Things Are

There are things I love about biking and there are things that I dislike, but the things that I love much outweigh those that I do not, which is saying a bit after my 4 mile run last night and a 15 mile bike this morning. My legs are tired now, to say the least.

The things that I love:
1. The exhilaration of going fast powered by your own pumping legs.
2. The sound of the wind on a calm day... with the knowledge that you're creating the wind.
3. Enjoying the beauty of nature as you ride by (especially if it's a little blurry - that means speed).
4. The feeling of accomplishment when you finish a long ride.
5. Becoming one with your bike - you move one way, the bike does to.
6. Getting better each week and realizing it.
7. The will power you find on a day when your body's a little tired and it's a feat just to finish.
8. The feeling of being in touch with all of your senses to keep yourself not only biking but also alive and accident free. (But the actual need to defend your life from cars is a dislike.)
9. Down hills when your legs are getting tired. Up hills when your legs are fresh.
10. The gear.
The things that I dislike:
1. People driving cars who have no clue about cyclists and the rules of the road. Case in point, two incidents today: #1. I'm stopped at my stop sign with one leg unclipped waiting for oncoming traffic to pass. Woman in on coming traffic sees me & stops (with 5 cars behind her also having to stop) and tries to flag me on even though traffic is on coming in the other lane. I wave her on and shake my head no. She blasts her horn at me, which causes the other lane of traffic to also stop. I am forced to go because now there is a traffic jam and I am embarrassed - all because I am properly stopped at a stop sign. #2. I yield to on coming traffic and am about to go with plenty of time when a car sees me and instead of continuing to go so that I may continue after he passes, he stops in the middle of the road and then yells at me when I stop too.
2. School zones. Parents do not pay attention to you on a bike at all. Evidently being taller than an elementary school child renders you invisible.
3. Training on a hybrid. Oh I long for a road bike (or maybe a tri bike). A more aero position and better efficiency would be heavenly.
4. Down shifting only to discover that I've down shifted too much and the power of my pedaling causes my feet to unclip and fly off the pedals. (I may need to 1) learn not to downshift like this, and 2) tighten the bindings on my clip ins.)
5. Being courteous to pedestrians by shouting "I'm on your left" only for them to walk or jump right in front of you causing you to veer to the right again (to save both them and you from an accident) and still having to thank them.
6. Having to stop at stop signs. I understand the need for safety, which is why I adhere to the stop at stop signs rule... but I have a need for speed! Oh, and last night's run was good... and my coach also helped me with my form. Turns out I don't know how to run properly! I was positioning my arms the wrong way and too far out, I was not leaning forward correctly, and I was breathing wrong. Running the last mile with her and working on it made the last mile easier on my body. So now I just have to keep working on it and who knows, maybe just maybe a list like the above might arise... we'll just have to see!

And if any one has tips on how to get your kids to wear underpants on a regular basis. Please let me know. Megan was a champ yesterday and had no accidents, then this morning refused to wear underpants. Amanda on the other hand decided she wanted to wear underpants and did a little dance with one leg crossed over her knee while hopping so she didn't pee until she was sitting on the potty. But, most likely she'll return home in underpants because despite going in the potty, she tends to ask for pullups at school! I think in 3 weeks we're going cold turkey to underpants... which will mean even more laundry, but it may be worth it!
Things overheard in the car yesterday....
Amanda: we going to get Daddy from he work, but we not go in his building. We sit in parking lot and go beep beep, honk honk, Daddy!
Megan: We no have horn! The light is green. That light red. I like red and green, and purple. I like purple. Purple is good.
Amanda: I like purple too. Purple and Green. You like purple Mommy? (Mommy responded that she likes blue and green.)
Megan: Green means go, Yellow mean slow, Red mean stop. Purple mean pretty. Mommy like blue and green. I like blue and green. You like it, Amanda?
Amanda: I like blue and green too. I love Mommy too.

My love for a piece of metal...

Yes, it's definitely official. I've know that this was true, it has been said a few times in this blog, but perhaps not fully declared in its entirety.... I AM IN LOVE WITH MY BIKE. It is not the top of the line in the world of bikes... it's not even a road bike, just a lowly hybrid Trek 3100 (road and mountain bike), but then, I'm no super model or elite athlete either. So, perhaps it is just that we are perfect for one another. It has been weeks since I last rode my bike because the mornings were too cold or I had a swim bike combo that just made no sense to swim at the gym and come home and ride (especially since I start work at 8:30 am each morning). It was almost like meeting an old friend after a long sojourn... a little bit of anxious excitement, a wonder of what if we have nothing to talk about after all this time? But, just like meeting a true friend after awhile, it was like picking up right where we left off. I felt taller on the bike - probably because I wasn't in the position where my right in front of my face was all the gagetry of the stationary bike and because the bike actually fits me. I'm in between settings at the gym and have to go to the lower one for height. The first minute felt odd and then pure bliss took over. 7 miles of lovely riding and a desire to keep biking and only looking at my watch twice in 30 minutes just to gage whether I had time to keep going or did I need to take an alternate route... never once out of boredom. And at the end of the ride as I unclipped from the pedals, a sense that I could have ridden 3 times as long and been perfectly happy. Blissful love for a lovely piece of metal.

If only the potty training front could be as blissful... we'll start with Angelfish as Ladybug's story will take a bit longer. Angelfish is using the potty when she feels like it (which is much of how Angelfish addresses big milestones in development... I think I've mentioned before in my blog that she refused to crawl and hated being on her belly but then one day decided to walk and within a week she was walking without holding on to anything for rather long distances), which amazingly was Saturday when we went to Disney. She would tell me that she needed to pee, we'd go to the bathroom (even waiting in line once or twice) and her pullup would be dry and she'd pee in the potty! Then Sunday she refused to go to the potty, only wanted to wear pullups and announced after the fact that she'd gone. This morning though she went pee on the potty and wanted to wear underpants to school. One of these days she's just going to make her mind up and be fully potty trained. I just hope it's before college.

Ladybug. Yes, our dear Ladybug gets her own paragraph. Saturday she was like rock star for the large part of the day... she wore the same pair of underpants without accident if you told her to go, she'd go. If she had to go, she told you and went. And then. She was not listening and running like a mad thing in the crowd at Disney. We told her if she did it once more we were going home. She did, and we were leaving. Ladybug completely had a melt down from Cinderella's castle all the way back to the entrance to the park. (We apologize to all those who had to endure her crying on the Monorail ride back to the entrance.) Screaming "I don't want to go home!" and wailing... she may have actually gnashed her teeth once or twice too. We get out and Mr. Darcy takes Ladybug and I take Angelfish to the bathrooms. Angelfish does awesome and empties her entire bladder into the potty. Ladybug too empties her bladder, but not into the potty. She started to pee a little on Mr. Darcy. He got her to stop and took her to the potty where she refused to go and refused to listen. Mr. Darcy scolded her for not listening and she got even more upset and peed all over his pants, all over her pants and socks, and all over the bathroom floor. Being a good Dad, he merely cleaned her up, cleaned up the bathroom floor, and did his best to clean himself up. He put her in new clothes and then refused to talk about the experience for several hours other than to say "she peed on me and I don't want to talk about it." But this morning, she was a champ. Marched in, peed on the potty and excitedly put on her Snow White underpants. (Oh, we met Snow White at Disney Saturday... so they were even more exciting now that they know one another!)

After our adventures at Disney, Mr. Darcy and I went on a date while the girls played with the babysitter. We had a good quantity of beer. It was necessary. And then we tried to bowl... I say tried to because when we found out that we would have to wait 1 hour and pay $45 plus shoe rentals for 1 hour of bowling, we went to see if there was anything playing at the movies. There was, but not until around 10 pm and we were tired enough that we'd simply fall asleep if we waited that long. So, we ate ice cream and went home. Wild and exciting times! But, it was nice to have some peace and quiet for a few hours and be able to chat!

Oh, and Saturday morning, the workout went well... 500 swim, 11 mile bike, and 10 minute run/walk. At the end I felt I could definitely do more, so things are looking up for this weekend's sprint triathlon... my first! YAY! My new triathlon bag arrived Friday afternoon and it was heavenly to use at the gym. Not sure that it can hold all it boasts it can, but we'll find out on Sunday! The"big day" is on Sunday, this week's workouts will be lighter than normal, but I hope to be able to officially call myself a "triathlete" on my personal "Superbowl Sunday!"